Combined forces not doing well against Maoists: Home ministry

The combined forces battling Maoists in seven states are not having much success, home ministry statistics for 2008, 2009 and the first six months of 2010 show. Combined forces men are running anti-Maoist operations in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Compared to previous years, the performance of the combined forces has slipped in 2010. In the first six months alone, 209 security personnel have been felled by Maoists. In 2009, a total of 317 soldiers were killed and 231 were killed in 2008.

However, fewer Maoists died at the hands of security forces. Between January and June, just 97 ultras were killed in encounters. A total of 217 Maoists died in 2009 and 199 in 2008.

The high number of civilians killed by Maoists in these three years also goes to show how badly the combined forces have done. During the first six months of 2010, the number of civilians killed by ultra-reds stand at 325, whereas 591 and 490 were killed during the whole of 2008 and 2009.

Very few Maoists surrendered this year too, which is another cause for worry. In 2008, 400 Maoists gave up arms and expressed their wish to join the mainstream. This number fell to just 150 in 2009 and to 134 between January and June 2010.

The only silver lining was that the paramilitary were successful in destroying many Maoist training camps, the home ministry report shows. In 2008, there were 199 training camps. In 2009, Maoists set up 18 more camps, but the forces destroyed many and today, only 97 camps are known to exist.